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Palestinians must resist settlers’ crimes: Academic

An Israeli soldier aims his weapon at Palestinian protesters during clashes on August 1, 2015, following a demonstration in reaction to the death of a Palestinian toddler burnt to death in an arson attack by Israeli settlers in the West Bank. (AFP photo)

Press TV has conducted an interview with Saeed Nimer, professor of political science at Birzeit University in Ramallah, to discuss the recent crimes committed by Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank.

The following is a rough transcription of the interview.

Press TV: What is behind this increased aggression first of all on part of the settlers themselves and then of course the Israeli military?

Nimer: We have noticed that in the last few months there was a huge escalation by the Israeli government, Israeli army against the Palestinians as well as increase in the atrocities of the settlers in the West Bank in general and they are increasing their own attacks on the Palestinians, it is quite clear. We do not know exactly if there is an aim behind it from the Israeli government. To be clear it is to provoke the Palestinians to go into a kind of clashes with the Israeli army and in this case Israel can claim that there will be no peace because of the Palestinians, again accusing the Palestinians of terrorism or anything else.

But what is going on, what we can see in front of us is two kinds of ways. One the Israeli government is encouraging settlements, building more settlements and increasing the number of settlers inside the West Bank and at the same time they also encouraged settlers apparently to attack the Palestinians whether that is in al-Aqsa mosque, and it was proven that the Israeli government was behind it in a way or another, or in other areas in the West Bank. So this is one direction we can see quite clearly and the other direction we can see that the settlers themselves who are trying to create a new status quo in the Area C which is around 60 percent of the West Bank to enable Israel to annex it to Israel.

Press TV: And we see more and more teenagers being killed, with the situation of the infant being killed, being burned to death and of course now we have members of his family who are also in a life threatening situation, do you think this itself will lead to more of an escalation? We have already seen at least one teenager who has been killed when he was demonstrating against the settlers burning that home, I want to look at the Palestinian side of things when more and more people are killed, more people are martyred. How much of that plays a role in increasing tensions in general in the region?

Nimer: Yes this is fact because in the last 24 hours we had three Palestinians were killed and definitely starting with the 18 months infant who was burnt to death and his parents now in a critical condition in Israeli hospitals and then we have Laith Khaldi … and also in Beit Lahia in Gaza Strip another youth was killed. So it is a kind of an escalation.

You have to understand that in the West Bank there is a huge anger because of the last criminal act of the settlers of burning this child and this kind of reaction by the Palestinians all over the West Bank, it was yesterday and today to a certain degree. We hope that the Palestinians take real measures and these measures should be also in two direction. One direction is for the Palestinian Authority who announced that they are going to the ICC and they are going also to the United Nations but we believe that this is not also enough by the Palestinian Authority. They should take more measures and especially if they cannot protect the Palestinian people in the West Bank at least they have to take a much stronger stand against the Israelis like stopping all kind of cooperation with the Israeli security forces.

This is one direction that I talked about and the other one is the popular anger in the West Bank and the popular resistance to the occupation and this resistance should be escalated and it should include all kind of resistance not only peaceful resistance but also even if they can call it violent because we are people under occupation and since we are people under occupation we have the right to resist this occupation in any way we find appropriate and that is the United Nations resolution in 1982 that Palestinians have the right to resist this occupation in any way they find it appropriate.

So we should put an end to the settlements and the settlers’ atrocities against the Palestinians because we have noticed that in the last year their activities in the West Bank became unbearable and they started to attack Palestinians and now they are moving from just stealing the land to attacking the Palestinians and consequently Palestinians should develop a plan, a strategy to resist these kind of settlements and to attack them and by the way some people would say that the settlers are civilians. We believe that settlers are not civilians. Once they are in the West Bank they are in the occupied territories, they have a choice, it is their choice. When they bring their children to a dangerous zone they know that and they should understand that and I believe that the Israeli army as well as the settlers are absolutely a legitimate target for the Palestinian resistance or all kind of resistance against this occupation.  

 


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